.me Incels.me gets its domain suspended by .ME registry over “hate speech”

[domainguy50]

This is very similar to the Gab incident:

We’ve all heard the phrase "if you don't like the rules, build your own site!" Well, recently reddit went on a purging spree and deleted the “incels” as well as “braincels” subreddits so someone went and made his own site.

incels(.)me is a message board site for self described “involuntary celibates.” Some anger obviously gets on this message board but not a lot of it is hate speech from a simple skim of the site. The .me registry (a level above the godaddys of the world) was apparently alerted to some non-violent “hate speech” on the site and Without communication, pulled the plug in the website

Here’s the websites official press release with details on the matter: https://incels.is/press/PressRelease101918.pdf


For anyone with a dot ME website, be aware of this overreach. “Free speech” is being weaponized by a certain ideological group to take down speech they disagree with. Or forefathers wouldn’t believe it if they saw it. I just see this situation as infrastructure companies (pipes) attacking free speech. I think registries should be neutral and act as utilities, not site moderators.... especially since nothing illegal was posted.

The .me registry will serve pornography websites but then act like they’re moral compass and ban a message board with words? Hypocrisy.

The Incels.me site already rebranded to incels.is, but this situation along with the gab one is showing a trend online

 

[JB Lions]

How do you know it didn't get handled? You had to go to an archive site to find this. I wonder why

Btw- have you ever managed a site? Its impossible to find everything bad immediately

Looks like you had my other post deleted, Mr. Free Speech.

May 12 - May 16 is how many days? That would be 4. So I know it was there for 4 days. That was just 1 example, you could easily find more. I had to go to archive site to find this and you wonder why? Because the site was taken down, are you aware of your first post? Or the site is down? You ask some ridiculous questions.

 

[carob]

It is how they wrote their agreements. I am not endorsing it, I am just explaining the protocol. There is no special .ME ToS on any registrar checkout that I have come across. That's the point.

Have you checked them all?

Incel.me is registered at https://subreg.cz - a browse with google translate should reveal what ToS are presented.

But registrars often have a page with a long fine-print list of ToS for individual registries, and may by mistake or on purpose omit to mention a registry. Dotmobi domains came with specific ToS attached which most registrars did not mention, let alone list or require the registrant to tick acceptance. So the registrars may be at fault.

People are regularly warned on here not to assume that cc (Country Code) domains have the same features, rules and processes as .com. For example, .in has a ToS clause prohibiting anything that offends public morals, as defined in India, and can delete any adult domains at will.

.Me is the country code for Montenegro and may be subject not just to their ToS but also the laws and standards of that country.

 

[golan]

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[cipcip]

So, never register a .me. Boicot them, Godaddy as well. I will transfer out what I have at Godaddy.

 

[TestCase]

The First Amendment's constitutional right of free speech, which is applicable to state and local governments under the incorporation doctrine, only prevents government restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses unless they are acting on behalf of the government.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States

Dot ME's game, dot ME's rules. Don't like the rules? Get over it and move on. Go buy yourself another ball then find another court and game. The end...

 

[NYJimbo]

Am I really reading this right? Guys that can't get laid, hop online and sometimes advocate rape and other violence?

Incels are a women hater group, its that simple. Pathetic bunch of losers who blame ALL women for their misery.

 

[JB Lions]

This thread was the first time I heard of this. Heard of the shooting in Florida at the Yoga studio last Friday where 2 women were killed, others injured and shooter killed himself. Today, I see the video of the shooter and sure enough, he's an incel:

Incel means Involuntary Celibate, a person who, if you take the term literally, can't have sex despite wanting to.

Tallahassee yoga shooter Scott Beierle identified as apparent right-wing ‘incel’ extremist.

The man who gunned down multiple women at the Hot Yoga Tallahassee studio on Friday evening was a far-right extremist, racist and self-declared hater of women.

The man’s name is Scott Beierle, according to the Tallahassee Police Department. A white male, Beierle was 40-years-old at the time of the shooting. The attack claimed the lives of two women and eventually his own. Five additional people were injured during the rampage–four women and one man.

According to BuzzFeed News, Beierle’s YouTube channel featured an homage to Elliot Rodger, the 19-year-old white male who opened fire near the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus in 2014. That mass-shooting resulted in the death of seven people and wounded 14 others. Rodger looms large in the community of allegedly sex-less men who despise women and refer to themselves as involuntarily celibate, or “incels.”

One video on what appears to be Beierle’s YouTube channel is titled “Plight of the Adolescent Male.” During the haranguing monologue, the man identified as Beierle says.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I work with the American Bible Society and their .BIBLE. Epik has sold more of them than anyone. They have specific ToS that you agree to when you register one. I am sure .ME does not. That is the issue. The .ME registry crossed a line, and is highlighting a problem. As .ME is a ccTLD, there is also no appeal process as it is unlikely that they would ever become governed by ICANN. The long-timers at ICANN will likely say it has been discussed for years. I don't doubt it.

https://domain.me/policies/

"In addition to any other rights of doMEn, doMEn reserves the right to deny or cancel the registration, renewal, or transfer of any .Me domain name, or to place any .Me domain name on registry lock, hold, or similar status, with respect to any such domain name that doMEn, upon reasonable belief, deems is being used in a manner that facilitates abusive behavior, including the above."

I am not sure why .Bible should have the unique ability to determine who they do business with. If they can, so can .ME, especially since they are not even governed by ICANN policies.

Brad

The difference here is that there is an explicit ToS for .BIBLE. Check it out:

See the 5th Checkbox.

That is TRANSPARENCY. I like it.

Does the American Bible Society mandate all registrars selling .bible domains present the .BIBLE Code of Conduct for registrants to agree to at checkout?

Unless I am mistaken (as I have never purchased a .BIBLE domain), I don't see the .Bible Code of Conduct presented at Marcaria.com check out < found via Get.Bible/2018Sale >

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[golan]

I don't see the .Bible Code of Conduct presented at Marcaria.com check out

Good find.

 

[domainguy50]

.me registry responds to this: https://domain.me/the-suspension-of-incels-me/

Incels.is admin responds to registry:

I just wanted to take a few minutes to respond to the bullshit that's presented in this news release by the .ME registry. The .ME registry provides these reasons that they "suspended" our domain without any due process at all.

• They were "concerned" and falsely informed that some of our members may have been involved with the Van attack in Toronto (which is 100% false) and that gave them a reason to closely monitor our community.
• They sent us a notice on September 12th, 2018 which I actually didn't receive until September 20th, 2018 due to the registrar not sending us the notice until 8 days later.
• We deleted the threads that they requested to be deleted and then they said to also delete threads with similar content
• They took a good 15-20 days to "investigate" this issue, and then they suspend our domain.

Don't believe this picture that they're trying to paint. They obviously weren't going to give us a fair shake either way, and we're not going to search through 1.6 MILLION posts nor do we have the technological capabilities to check to see if any of them are against their vague anti-abuse policy nor was me or Serge going to direct staff members to do so. We support free speech and free expression. We do not allow illegal content on this site, period. They still suspended us.

Domain registries have no place in enforcing arbitrary rules against domains that go against their ideology.